Catholic leaders open to Duterte-CBCP dialogue

Catholic prelates welcomed the plan of the government to hold talks with officials of the Catholic Church, particularly the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). (Photo by Project Kisame/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

MANILA — Catholic prelates welcomed the plan of the government to hold talks with officials of the Catholic Church, particularly the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Pastor “Boy” Saycon, one of the members of the panel formed by President Rodrigo Duterte, said they have not talked about any particular issue during last Friday’s meeting at the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila for the Pope’s Day event.

“Wala naman napag-usapan (Nothing was brought up). They’re very receptive to the initiative of the President to open up the dialogue,” he said in an interview.

Aside from Saycon, other members of the panel who met with Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, on Friday were Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque and Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella.

When asked if the Papal Nuncio made any request, Saycon said, “Wala naman request (There’s no request). In fact there are no preconditions.”

“We are very happy and glad that the bishop has welcomed the initiative of the president,” he added.

On Friday, government officials attended the event in behalf of the President, who was invited to the event.

The panel was created amid the remarks of the Chief Executive against Catholic Church officials.